England boss Sir Clive Woodward last night vowed there would be no short-cuts taken in restoring his World Cup final hero Jonny Wilkinson to the Test Match arena.

Wilkinson has played less than an hour's rugby since his extra-time drop goal gave England victory against Australia in Sydney four months ago.

He sat out the RBS 6 Nations campaign to recuperate from shoulder surgery, and there is no immediate prospect of him returning to action.

England face a summer tour of New Zealand and Australia in June, when they will face the All Blacks twice and Wallabies once. Newcastle fly-half Wilkinson would potentially be key to the success or otherwise of that trip, but head coach Woodward has adopted a philosophical approach.

"I speak to Jonny a lot, and all we've said is that he is not playing until he is fit," Woodward said.

"He is hoping to make the tour, but there is no definite one way or the other. He wants to go, he is extremely frustrated, but he will only go if he is 100pc.

"I would rather leave him until the autumn unless he is right. There will be no short-cuts taken with him. To throw him into a Test match against the All Blacks, having not played since November, would be a tall ask for anybody. Rob Andrew has done a great job with him, and there is no way Rob or Newcastle would take any short-cuts.

"When he came to us last week there was still a lot of weakness in terms of the build up of his neck and shoulder."

Woodward will spend the remainder of this season formulating his tour squad and he revealed before leaving Paris that there could be a couple of newcomers.

Sale Sharks hooker Andy Titterrell is a certainty for the trip, while Woodward and his coaching staff are also looking closely at Leeds scrum-half and England Under-21 Grand Slam captain Clive Stewart-Smith.

Given their largely ineffective Six Nations campaign there will be many who believe England could be on a hiding to nothing in New Zealand and Australia.

But Woodward said: "There is no point hiding. In past eras, I think England have shied away from these sort of tours and fixtures.

"You can't be afraid of losing, and you have got to play against the best sides, especially when you've got new players coming in.

"This is exactly the sort of place to rebuild. It is when you find out about players.

"My mindset is that we can go out there and win, simple as that.

"We will go there, finish the season and hopefully get something out of it, which I intend to do, and then everyone will have a complete break."

Woodward has also confirmed that Joe Lydon is to join his senior coaching staff after a highly successful stint as England Sevens boss.

Lydon, the former Wigan and Great Britain Rugby League star, will now work alongside the likes of Woodward, Andy Robinson and defence specialist Phil Larder.

"Joe will be leaving the Sevens to join our group.

"He worked a lot with us before the World Cup, and he has got a very important role to play," Woodward added.